


Second Cookies, Second Chances

by ACrowByTheNameOfRamen



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Big scary wound, Blood, Bruises, Did I mention that I'm bad at tagging?, Fluff, Hickeys, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm so sorry Deceit, INDEFINITE HIATUS, Injury, Logan is kinda sad, M/M, Major Injury, Past Attemped Murder, Past Rape/Non-con, Platonic or romantic Moceit, Roman is scary sometimes, Sickfic, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, This isn't as bad as these tags make it sound I promise, Yes I know Thomas lives in Florida just shut up I needed cold and snow :P, actual canon sanders sides? what's that, just shut up and take my chaotic gay bois, minor injury, one-sided Logicality, past betrayal, this is totally just self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-10-30 12:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17828675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACrowByTheNameOfRamen/pseuds/ACrowByTheNameOfRamen
Summary: After Deceit betrayed the Light Sides and tried to kill them, they banished him back to the Dark Sides, hoping that they'd never see him again. But when Deceit shows up again, with the mark of banishment from the Dark Sides carved into his chest, along with very evident signs of torture, how can Patton possibly not help him? Everyone deserves a second chance. And maybe some second cookies.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't even thinking about cookies when I wrote this and so there are no cookies. But I'm sure Patton will make you some if you ask him nicely.

Deceit fingered the few quarters left in his pocket, staring uncertainly at the phone booth in front of him, nestled up against the wall of the old-fashioned train station. Should he call? He wasn’t sure. Snowflakes littered his eyelashes. He knew calling would just end up making him depressed and hopeless, but it was also probably his only chance. It was past midnight, and the temperature was below freezing. He felt dangerously close to passing out, and he was shivering so hard he was sure it was visible. He walked forward, pulled open the door to the old phone booth with some difficulty, and stepped inside, closing the door tightly behind him, hoping it would keep the cold out, if only a little. 

He drew two quarters out of his pocket and pushed them into the coin slot, taking the phone off of its hook. He hesitated. Did he really want to do this? No. But he had to. Thomas’s house was much too far away for Deceit to make it there on his own, and he wasn’t even sure he’d survive this freezing night for much longer. Taking a deep breath that made his throat and lungs sting with the cold, he punched in Patton’s phone number, pressing the phone to his ear, flinching away from the cold plastic.  
Pick up, pick up..

“Hello?”  
Deceit almost sobbed with relief at hearing the Morality side’s voice.  
“Hello?” Patton said again. “Who is this?”  
Deceit had almost forgotten he needed to speak. Swallowing nervously, he opened his mouth to reply. His voice sounded rough and congested, and it cracked as he spoke.  
“Patton,” he began. But before he could say anything else, there was an aggressive click and a dial tone rang in his ear. His shoulders slumped. He had been right. He could feel a deep sadness welling up inside him, a lump forming in his throat until he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He took a small, shuddering breath and wiped away the few tears that had spilled over before he could contain them. He had to try again.

He pressed two more quarters into the slot and entered Patton’s number again.  
Please, please, please..  
The phone continued ringing.  
Patton, please! Pick up!  
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.  
Pick UP!  
The phone rang out, finally stopping the incessant noise.  
No!

Deceit dug in his pocket for more quarters and pressed his final two coins into the slot, hurriedly entering the Morality side’s phone number once more.  
“What do you want?” Patton snapped, having picked up almost immediately. Deceit flinched away from the phone once more, stung by the side’s harsh tone. Then again, he deserved it, after what he had done to all of them. But he needed help, and now was not the time to be insecure. 

“Patton, please. Just hear-” Deceit broke off, coughing a few times. “Hear me out. Please.”  
He heard a quiet grumble from Patton’s end, and assumed the tense silence that followed was a reluctant invitation to speak.  
“Patton, I need your help-” He cut himself off with another cough. “I-I’m freezing, and I’m injured- a-and..” Deceit trailed off, swaying unsteadily. He felt dizzy, and blinked a few times as his vision blurred. “I-.. I need to sit down.” he mumbled breathily, stretching out a hand in an attempt to steady himself before his legs buckled underneath him and he dropped to the ground with a muffled thwump. He felt weak and numb, and his arm shook as he picked up the fallen receiver. 

“Dee?” Patton’s voice was anxious; apparently the father figure of Thomas’ sides would be worried about anyone who was one of his kids, even if the person in question had betrayed the sides and Thomas and tried to kill them. Deceit tried to swallow, but his throat was so dry it only hurt. He sniffed weakly. He was going to pass out any moment now.

“P-Pat.” Deceit coughed.  
“Dee, where are you?” Patton asked hurriedly. There were the sounds of keys jangling and a door slamming.  
“I.. I don’t know.” Deceit struggled to raise his head; the name of the train station had been emblazoned on the outside of one glass wall of the phone booth. He struggled to read the backwards writing with his blurry vision, but he somehow managed to make it out. He had only just begun telling Patton the name when a loud, tinny female voice rang in his ear, making him jump and fling the phone down.  
“PLEASE INSERT FIFTY CENTS TO CONTINUE YOUR CALL.”

Deceit shakily dug around in his pocket. It was empty. He checked another pocket. Empty. Beginning to panic, he began searching the rest of his few pockets that might contain coins, but they were all empty. He picked up the receiver again.  
“Patton! C-can you hear me?” He got no response other than that mechanical voice demanding coins again, but he repeated the name of the station into the phone anyway, hoping beyond hope that Patton could hear him. 

The line went dead. Now all he could do was wait and hope. 

He struggled to his feet. The least he could do was go sit out in front of the station. It would be colder, but he’d have a better chance of being seen if Patton drove by. He pushed on the door. It didn’t move. Confused, he pushed harder, putting as much of his weight on the door as he could. It still didn’t move. It must have frozen shut, and now Deceit was trapped inside, too weak to force it open. He pounded on the glass, but no one else was around to free him. He was stuck.

Sighing heavily, he sank to his knees and slumped against the wall of the phone booth, dejected. He doubted Patton would find him. He was going to die here. He knew it. There was no lying to himself about it. Apparently, the rest of the dark sides were right.  
He didn’t deserve life.  
He struggled to keep his eyes open, but his vision started going dark anyway. Well, sorry, Thomas. Guess there was no more lying for you.  
The world faded to black around him.

Patton slammed his foot down on the brakes and put the car into park, removing his keys and getting out. Deceit had called from a pay phone, he knew that much. He certainly hadn’t used his own phone, and after the light sides had driven him away Logan had advised that they all keep Deceit’s number in their phones so that they would know who it was if he tried to call them. And before he had been banished, when he had still been one of their friends, Patton had observed the Deception side going out of his way to use his own cell phone for some reason. It was very doubtful that Deceit would borrow a stranger’s phone.

Patton had remembered that this old train station had a singular phone booth at the side of the building from when the sides had convinced Thomas to go for a drive. They had been itching to get out of the house, and though each side could freely leave the house and go where they liked, everyone had wanted to go together. Family bonding, or something.

The sides had marveled at the quaintness of the old-fashioned train station that had been outfitted to handle the newer commuter trains. Patton had quite literally squealed in delight at the sight of it, and Roman had wished it was closer to their house so that he could go and admire it whenever he wanted. Logan had been impressed with the efficiency of simply outfitting the station to handle newer trains rather than destroying it and building a new station, while Virgil seemed to like its aesthetic. Deceit had snuck off and fallen in love with the phone booth he discovered, and especially how the phone still worked. He had called all of the other’s phones with it, cackling in delight when they picked up and answered in confused tones. 

If he was anywhere, that’s where he’d be.  
The station was in the next city, and Patton had driven so quickly that he wasn’t sure if he had remained under the speed limit the whole time. Now here he was. The station was closed for the night, and he hurried around the short building to where he remembered that the phone booth had been, praying that Deceit was there.

Patton rounded the corner and focused on the phone booth nestled against the station wall. There was a slouched figure inside, and Patton picked up the pace, sprinting toward it.  
Deceit looked horrible. He was slumped in what must’ve been a horribly uncomfortable position, half sitting and half lying down, his torso twisted and his legs tucked underneath him. He was covered in cuts and bruises. His human eye was blackened and swollen shut, and it looked like someone had actually peeled off some of his scales, leaving angry red scabs in their place. His clothes hung off his noticeably thinner frame, and his hat was missing. His hair was disheveled and he looked like he hadn’t been allowed to shower for at least a week. His neck had more bruises than the rest (of what Patton could see) combined. One glove was missing, revealing that his fingers were almost purple from the cold, and even unconscious he was shivering so badly it was clearly visible. 

Patton took hold of the door handle and tried to open it, but it remained shut. He tried again. Still the door resisted him. After a few moments of aggressively struggling with it, the Morality side finally wrenched open the glass door and hurriedly bent down to catch Deceit, who had been leaning against it. Disturbed by the movement, Deceit cracked open an eye, staring up at Patton with a unusually dull yellow glare. Patton gave him a concerned smile and Deceit closed his eye again, but raised an arm, reaching for the Morality side. Patton took his hand and squeezed it in an attempt to comfort the half-conscious dark side. Deceit’s lips moved but no sound came out.  
“Shh. It’s okay, I’ve got you, Dee. I’ve got you.” Patton reassured. “Let’s get you out of here.” 

The only response he got was Deceit inclining his head a fraction. Patton wrapped his arms around the Deception side, hauling him to his feet. Deceit leaned heavily on the Morality side but managed to stay up, although his legs shook with the effort. Slowly, they made their way back to the car, where Patton helped Deceit into the passenger seat. He buckled Deceit’s seatbelt and tilted the seat back so that he could lie down, then closed the door and hurried over to the driver’s side, digging his key into the ignition and turning the heat up to its maximum before he had even settled into his seat. 

Beside him, Deceit mumbled incoherently, and Patton gently petted the snake-faced side’s head. Deceit’s skin was warm and clammy, despite his evident chill. He must’ve been sick as well as injured. He did look much paler than usual. Apparently his human traits made him less cold-blooded than actual snakes, but it was obvious that hadn’t helped him.

Patton drove as quickly as he could without breaking the speed limit and got back home in record time. He pulled into the garage and waited for the garage door to close before he turned off the car and got up to help Deceit out of the car. The Deception side mumbled a complaint at being woken up but didn’t resist when Patton slipped an arm around his back and helped him up, kicking the door closed behind them. Together, they stumbled into the house, up the stairs, and through the physical counterpart of Patton’s bedroom door. The Morality side helped Deceit over to the bed and laid him down on top of it, before hurrying back to lock the door should anyone have a reason to attempt to enter his room. 

He rushed back to Deceit, pulling the covers over him and tucking him in snugly, before running to turn on the heater. Now that Deceit was warm and at least relatively safe, Patton took his chance to check the Deception side’s injuries. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over Deceit, gently cupping his cheek to move his head. Patton turned on the lamp sitting on a nightstand and inspected the dark side’s wounds. The missing scales looked like they must’ve been painful, but at least they had scabbed over, so for the moment Patton wouldn’t have to worry about them. 

There were small cuts all over Deceit’s face and neck that looked like someone had attacked him with a sheet of paper, but the bruises were the worst-looking injuries of all. Each one was a dark purple-blue-black, and the one around his human eye was obviously the worst; it was swollen shut, though Patton retained hope that it would heal nicely. But the bruises covering Deceit’s neck were what drew the Morality side’s attention. 

There were so many that Patton could barely tell where one stopped and another began, and there were strange little indents in the same pattern covering every one of them-  
“Oh my god.” Patton muttered under his breath. “Are these.. bite marks?” He thought for a moment. “Oh my god,” he mumbled again. “These are hickeys.”  
Suddenly he felt the urge to hug Deceit and never let him go, never let whoever had obviously tortured him like this anywhere near him ever again. 

“Lust was.. less forgiving than the others.” Deceit mumbled, having woken up again. It took Patton a moment to realize that Deceit wasn’t speaking in lies as he usually did.  
“Oh, Dee.” Patton murmured, hugging the injured side. Deceit shifted and awkwardly draped an arm over Patton’s shoulder, leaning into the contact. It felt strange to him; he wasn’t often this close to another person in such a.. nonsexual way.  
He kind of liked it. 

They stayed there like that for a few long moments before Patton gently pulled away.  
“Go back to sleep for now, okay?” he said softly, giving Deceit a kind smile. “I’ll be right back.”  
Deceit nodded and closed his eyes, or at least the one that wasn’t already closed, and gratefully snuggled down under the blanket while Patton stood up and headed for the door. Opening it, the Morality side paused and glanced back at Deceit. The snake-faced liar was apparently already asleep, curled up underneath the blankets, his fluffy hair spread over his forehead. He looked so peaceful, lying there. It was hard to believe that this was the man who had fooled them all into thinking that he was their friend, and then had tried to kill them. And he had nearly succeeded, too. 

Patton shrugged as though shaking off those thoughts. He just had to hope this wasn’t another trap. He eased the door shut and locked it behind him, not wanting any of the other light sides to find out that the supposedly evil side was here.. and not wanting Deceit to escape, either. He couldn’t be trusted. But those injuries could. Not even Deceit coud fake that much pain, or those looks of pure safety and trust in his eyes, or at least the undamaged one, when he looked at Patton.  
Or could he?  
No, Deceit couldn’t be trusted, no matter what. That was final.  
But he still needed help.

Patton shook his head, trying to get his thoughts to slow down long enough for him to think of something else. He needed to talk to someone, but how could he talk to any of the other sides, or Thomas? Roman would probably break down the door to Patton’s room in order to kill the snake-faced liar, and Virgil would probably wait for Roman to break down the door, then shove him aside and strangle Deceit with his bare hands. Thomas would immediately banish him back to wherever the dark sides resided, and seeing as it was most likely that the other dark sides had been the ones who had hurt Deceit in the first place (Dee had mentioned that Lust had been responsible for the hickeys on his neck, Patton reminded himself), that was most certainly not an option.

Wait.  
Logan.  
Logan wouldn’t do anything crazy.  
And Logan knew a lot more about first aid than Patton did.  
Logan was perfect.

Patton rushed down the hall to where the physical equivalent of the Logical side’s door stood, and rapped his knuckles against the door. No response. Confused, Patton grasped the doorknob and turned it. The door was unlocked, and Patton stepped inside. The room was devoid of life other than himself. Logan must be downstairs. He stepped back into the hallway and headed for the stairs, descending them quickly and looking around for the Logical side. The living room was also empty; Roman and Virgil must have been in their rooms as well. However, there were clanking noises coming from the kitchen that Patton distinctly knew to be someone removing a plate from the cupboard. He hurried over and hesitated in the doorway. Logan was taking a slice of bread out of the toaster, but he paused as he heard Patton’s footsteps. 

“Yes?” the Logical side asked, laying the toast on his plate, without turning around.  
Patton hesitated, unsure of himself. After what Deceit had done, could even Logan be trusted not to strangle the dark side?  
Logan had turned around to look at Patton now, leaning against the counter. “Well?”  
Patton sighed. He needed Logan’s help.  
“Promise me that you won’t freak out and do something stupid?”  
Logan raised an eyebrow. “Why would you be worried that I, of all people, would do something stupid?”  
“Just promise me.” Patton replied stubbornly.  
“I promise.”  
“And promise that you won’t tell the others?”  
“..I promise.”

“It’s.. Deceit.” Patton said, hesitatingly. Logan’s eyes narrowed and he scowled, but he said nothing.  
“He’s injured, and I don’t know how to take care of him.” Patton went on, a bit surprised by the Logical side’s lack of reaction, but then again, that was pretty normal for him.  
“Where is he?” Logan asked, his voice cold but calm.  
“In my room.”  
Logan sighed and put a hand over his face. “And I am to assume that you’re not going to let him leave until he’s healed.”  
“Pretty much.”  
Logan sighed again, shaking his head slowly. Then he looked up with a determined and mildly exasperated expression. “Then we are going to nurse him back to health. And the others can’t know that he’s here.”  
Patton gasped, his eyes lighting up as he realized that Logan was going to help him. “Thank you!” he exclaimed, dashing over to the Logical side and hugging him tightly. Logan stiffened in surprise, then awkwardly returned the embrace. When Patton pulled away and grabbed Logan’s hand to drag him back to the room where Deceit lay asleep, he didn’t notice the light blush that had sprung to Logan’s cheeks. 

“Wait a moment,” Logan said, pulling his hand out of Patton’s grasp. “I need to get my first-aid kit first. I’ll meet you in your room.”  
Patton nodded and dashed off, bouncing with joy. Logan listened to his footsteps as he bounded up the stairs and down the hallway to his room. Then, picking up the plate of toast to give to Deceit later, he gave a heavy and rather dejected sigh, trying to force his cheeks to cool. Once he was confident that his evident blush had gone, he trudged up the stairs and over to his room, retrieving the aforementioned first-aid kit, then walking over to Patton’s door and pushing it open, closing it behind him.

Patton unlocked and opened his door, stepping inside and closing it after him, before going to sit on the edge of the bed where Deceit slept. The snake-faced side mumbled softly in his sleep, shifting a little. Patton brushed Deceit’s hair away from his forehead, taking a moment to feel how warm his skin was. It could have just been due to the warmth of the room, but Deceit seemed a lot hotter than before. Patton hoped his fever hadn’t risen. Just then, the door opened and Logan stepped inside, carrying both the first-aid kit and the plate of toast, which he set on the nightstand. Patton stood and hurried over to lock the door before returning to the bed, placing a hand on Deceit’s shoulder.  
“You didn’t happen to bring a thermometer too, didja?” the Morality side questioned in a whisper. Logan nodded; opening the first-aid kit, he removed a thick thermometer and held it up to show Patton. It was the kind you’d find at the doctor’s office, the kind they shove into people’s ears that seem to injure more than help them.

Patton smiled, before turning to the sleeping Deceit and gently shaking his shoulder.  
“Dee,” Patton said, in a gentle voice. “Logan’s here. He’s gonna take your temperature, okay?”  
Deceit mumbled incoherently and shifted, blinking his uninjured eye open halfway open, focusing on Patton’s face. “Kay.” he muttered uninterestedly, closing his eye again. Logan pushed the thermometer into Deceit’s ear none too gently, making the snake-faced side flinch. “Oww.”  
“Quit whining,” Logan said.  
Hearing Logan’s voice, Deceit seemed to finally process that the Logical side was there, and his uninjured eye snapped open and he jerked back, gaze alarmed.  
“Dee!” Patton said, reassuringly rubbing the Deception side’s shoulder. “It’s okay. He’s here to help.”  
Deceit only relaxed a little, still looking unsure. Logan removed the thermometer, checked it, and looked back at Deceit, his gaze cold.  
“The only reason I’m here is to get you out of here as soon as possible. Since I know Patton won’t let you leave until you’re healed, I’m going to fix you up quickly. Once you’re fully recovered, you are to leave and never return. I will not inform the others of your presence, as I believe Patton would have a hard time getting them to not kill you, and I don’t want to make this difficult for him. Understand?”  
Deceit nodded, trying as hard as he could to shrink back into the bed.

Logan leaned a little closer, his intense gaze seeming to both burn through Deceit and freeze him solid at the same time.  
“And if you hurt Patton, or any of the others-”  
“Logan! Stop scaring him!” Patton exclaimed, throwing himself between them and laying over Deceit’s chest, wrapping his arms around the snake-faced side. Deceit winched badly, and failed to choke back a whimper of pain. Patton immediately got up, hands on Deceit’s shoulders, a concerned look in his eyes.  
“I’m so sorry! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”  
Deceit was overwhelmed by the barrage of worried questions. Logan gently pushed Patton away from Deceit, shushing him. 

“Let me see your injures.” he said, motioning for Deceit to sit up. He did, and Logan removed the snake-faced side’s cape, then gestured for Deceit to remove his shirt. He did, although hesitantly. He didn’t want Patton to see what was underneath. Patton audibly gasped when he saw Deceit’s chest, and Logan’s expression darkened, horror shining in his eyes. Neither of them had ever seen it before, but they both knew what it meant. 

Across Deceit’s torso, still oozing a little blood in some places but mostly scabbed over, was carved a huge “X”. The lines started at his shoulders, crossing in the middle and continuing down over his belly. The lines were jagged and crooked and segmented, as though whoever had made them was using a serrated knife and had taken breaks every few inches. It was the most horrible thing any of them had ever seen. Deceit closed his uninjured eye, tilting his head back so that he wouldn’t accidentally look at it. Patton reached out and made a motion like he was gently touching the edge of the wound, but his fingers didn’t make contact.

All three of them sat in horrified silence until Deceit reached for his shirt, which he had placed to the side, and began struggling to put it back on, not wanting them to look at it any longer than necessary. Logan grabbed his wrist, stopping him.  
“No. I need to treat this.”  
Deceit hesitated, then let his arms fall to his sides, sighing quietly. Patton met his gaze and immediately reached out, cupping the Deception side’s cheek in his palm, massaging his scales.  
“It’s gonna be okay.” the Morality side reassured. “We’ll keep you safe.”  
Deceit leaned into his touch, closing his uninjured eye. He knew that Patton would keep that promise, at least to the best of his ability. He felt safe here. He felt almost.. loved.

It was a nice feeling.


	2. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh dear oh dear. this took me longer than i thought it would, sorry! believe me though, i actually wrote this pretty fast compared to stuff that doesn't have an audience waiting for it, haha. but it's finally here, so enjoy!

Logan had just finished treating Deceit’s wounds, and he sat back with a sigh. “Done.”  
Patton beamed. Although Deceit looked rather strange, as though he was made of bandages, he seemed much more comfortable. Logan had cleaned all of the smaller cuts, the places where it seemed Deceit’s scales had been peeled off, and some of the bruises, where specks of blood had previously dried, showing that the skin had been broken, and most of the little injures had been bandaged; the only exceptions being the tiniest ones that were already mostly healed. 

Around Deceit’s chest, wrapped over his shoulders and around his ribs, was at least a whole roll of ace bandages. Logan had spent probably two hours slowly picking pieces of the scab away from the huge wound and cleaning the exposed flesh, slowly binding the whole thing in bits and pieces, until he removed the whole thing and quickly wrapped it again with fresh bindings. There had been a bit too much blood for anyone’s liking, but it never progressed to a dangerous level. 

Deceit inspected his wrappings. They were a bit tight, but it wasn’t too bad. He pressed the ice pack Patton had conjured for him earlier to his bruised eye again, wincing slightly at the cold, along with the discomfort of pressure on his swollen face. The swelling had already gone down quite a bit, to the point where Deceit could barely manage to open his eye, but he preferred not to struggle to hold it open. One eye was fine for now. His yellow gaze moved to Logan, filled with gratitude. 

“I’m not thanking you.” he mumbled. Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“It seems you’re strong enough to speak in your usual lies again.” he remarked. “That’s a good sign.”  
Deceit nodded and stifled a yawn before his stomach grumbled. He immediately placed an arm over his belly, looking a little embarrassed. Patton hopped up from his seat on the side of the bed.  
“I’ll go make us some food!” the Morality side said cheerfully. Logan, happening to glance at Deceit, saw his uninjured eye flash with disappointment. He clearly wanted Patton to stay. 

Logan stood up suddenly, the action stopping Patton in his tracks.  
“No, I will.” Logan said decidedly. Patton shot him a confused look. The Logical side motioned at Deceit with his eyes, hoping Patton would get the message. Fortunately it seemed he did, and he skipped back over to plop down on the side of the bed again with a chirp of “Okay!”. Deceit gave them both mildly confused looks but didn’t say anything. 

Logan straightened his tie. “I believe it’s time that I brush up on my cooking skills,” he paused to glance at the clock. “And since it’s nearly five, I might as well make breakfast. I’ll be back soon. Don’t answer the door for anyone but me.”  
Patton nodded and rose to shut and lock the door behind Logan before returning to the bed where Deceit lay yet again, hugging him while being careful of his wounds. Deceit raised an arm and draped it over Patton’s back, burying his face in the Morality side’s neck. This was nice.

Logan entered the kitchen and immediately went about gathering two pans and a few cooking utensils. He placed the pans on the stove and turned it on, letting them warm up while he retrieved the food he’d be cooking. He removed a carton of eggs and some bacon, placing them on the counter next to the stove, cracking seven eggs into the bigger of the pans, and leaning a spatula against the pan to remind himself to scramble them. He then laid enough bacon in the smaller pan to nearly cover the bottom. As he toiled over the stove, he heard footsteps approach. It couldn’t be Patton, he wouldn’t have left Deceit right now. Roman was asleep, he never woke up early from his beauty sleep. It must’ve been Virgil. Logan braced himself for questions.

“Sup, Logan.” Virgil said, voice quieter than usual. It was instinctive to speak quietly in the morning, when everyone else was supposedly asleep.  
“Hello, Virgil.” Logan replied, at his normal volume. “How are you?”  
Virgil walked up to stand next to Logan, watching him scramble the eggs, and shrugged.  
“Fine, I guess. Why are you making breakfast at five in the morning? I don’t see the logic in that.”  
“I wanted to brush up on my cooking skills. It’s been a while since I made anything.” That wasn’t a total lie. He had been wanting to cook something for a while but hadn’t yet found the time to do it.  
“Looks like a big breakfast. Want me to help you eat it?”  
“No, thank you.”  
Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Nobody else is awake right now, are they?”  
“I expect not.” The lie came smoothly. Thank you, Deceit.  
“So why are you making such a huge breakfast? That’s enough for three people.”

When Logan didn’t respond for a few moments, trying to figure out a viable excuse, Virgil shrugged again. “Eh, whatever. ...Hey, did you notice something odd last night?”  
Logan forced himself to calm down. Virgil didn’t know anything yet. This would turn out just fine so long as he stayed calm and said the right things.  
“No, I didn’t notice anything. I am to assume that you did?” 

“Yeah. I coulda sworn that I heard the car start up at around twelve last night and when I went and checked the garage, it was gone. I freaked out and hid in my room for a while to calm down, ‘cause I thought someone had stolen the car. But I checked again about an hour ago and it was back. Do you know if someone took the car out last night?”

Logan shrugged. “Perhaps Roman forgot his phone somewhere again.”  
“Maybe.” Virgil turned around and leaned against the counter, searching Logan’s face as he flipped the bacon slices one by one. Logan didn’t look at him until he was finished with his task.  
“You seem to suspect me of something. What is it?”  
Virgil shrugged again. “You’re the know-it-all. I just figured you might know something. Whatever; it probably was just Princey. I wouldn’t be surprised. Have fun eating your huge breakfast.”

Virgil pushed off of the counter and strode toward the doorway. Logan began piling the eggs and bacon onto three separate plates.  
“Only thing is, before I went back to my room, I looked in Roman’s room, cause I thought it might’ve been him who took the car. He was still asleep in bed.” Virgil’s voice sounded from the other side of the room. Logan stopped breathing for a moment.  
“Eh, whatever. Maybe it was Patton. It doesn’t really matter, I guess. I’m going back to bed.”

As Virgil walked away, Logan forced himself to relax. Virgil wouldn’t go bothering Patton right now, so at the very least they had some time to figure out a good story for why Patton had left the house in the middle of the night. Besides, since Virgil hadn’t mentioned the possibility of it having been Logan to leave the house, the Logical side suspected that Virgil might think that it was him who had left. Either way, the secret was safe for now. 

Logan picked up the three plates, expertly balancing one on his arm. He crossed to the stairs and began to ascend them, catching a glimpse of Virgil’s door closing. Shouldn’t he have been in his room already by now? ...Had he been listening at Patton’s door? It shouldn’t have mattered, of course; the doors were practically soundproof - but with certain tricks you could hear everything that was happening on the other side of them. But Virgil wouldn’t do that; he respected Patton too much. 

Still, Virgil was Anxiety. If he suspected something was going on, he might very well try to figure out what it was. Logan decided that he’d watch what he said and did around Virgil, at least for the time being. He’d also recommend to Patton that he do so as well, and he’d tell both the Moral side and Deceit to keep their voices down, just in case. Better safe than sorry, after all, so long as being safe didn’t progress to paranoia.

Logan gently kicked Patton’s door and waited while the Morality side came to open it. The door creaked open a few inches, with Patton staring suspiciously through the crack, until he saw that the one requesting admittance was Logan. Then he threw the door open with a smile, ushered Logan inside, and hurriedly shut it behind the Logical side, locking it once more. Logan conjured a small table with a flick of his head and set the plates down on it, then conjured a set of utensils for each of them. 

Patton conjured three chairs for them and helped Deceit over to his seat, though at this point the snake-faced side probably could’ve managed it on his own. Deceit looked down at his chair as the Moral side pulled it away from the table, surprised to see a cushion of his favorite shade of yellow on the seat. He chuckled softly as Patton gestured a bit dramatically at it, and sat down. Patton went to his own seat and plopped down, gaping at the simple plates of bacon and eggs.  
“Wow! This looks delicious, Logan!” the Morality side enthused, and Logan smiled a little. 

Deceit gazed down at his plate. It was heaped with a mound of bright yellow scrambled eggs, with a crescent of perfectly crunchy bacon perched next to it, and the whole thing still steamed. Its smell was mouth-watering.  
“Bon appétit.” Logan said. The three of them dug into their meals. Deceit hadn’t had a proper meal in so long that it tasted heavenly. He ate ravenously.

Logan swallowed a bite of food and waved his fork in the air to get the other sides’ attention. “By the way, Virgil approached me while I was cooking.”  
Patton and Deceit both flashed him a worried look. “What didn’t he say?” the snake-faced side asked.  
“He asked me if I had heard anything suspicious last night. He noticed that the car vanished for a while and wondered who had taken it. I believe he may suspect me, but we should all be on our guard.” the Logical side replied. “He may question you later, Patton. We should think of a reasonable excuse for you to use.” Logan looked pointedly at Deceit. 

“Don’t give me some time to think.” the Deception side said, sounding mildly offended.  
“Don’t take too long, then.” Logan responded. “Also, we should come up with a plan in case anyone else wants to come in here. Patton, you don’t often leave your door locked, so we’ll need to keep it unlocked more to prevent Roman, Virgil and Thomas from being suspicious. But that means Deceit will need somewhere to stay hidden if neither of us are in the room.”

“Under the bed or in the closet are the two best places I can think of.” Patton supplied, shrugging.  
“Do you ever not clean those?” Deceit questioned. Patton looked a little sheepish. “They’re both pretty dusty.”  
Deceit looked a little anxious. “I would want to start sneezing and alert anybody else where I am.” he said, biting his lip in thought. “Is there anything else you can think of that wouldn’t work?”

Patton looked around the room, then shook his head. “There’s no other space big enough.”  
“Unless..” Logan began, quietly.  
“Unless what?” Patton asked eagerly.  
“Deceit, are you strong enough to change into your snake form yet?”  
Deceit blinked. He hadn’t thought of that. “I won’t try that after we’re finished.” he said, motioning to his plate. The other two sides nodded in agreement and they all returned to their meals.

As soon as they all finished eating, a knock sounded at the door. Deceit jumped in shock and looked rapidly between Patton and Logan, panic in his eyes.  
“Behind the door, now!” Logan mouthed, taking Deceit’s arm and guiding him over to where he should stand. Logan stood next to him, closer to the door, hiding the snake-faced side from any accidental glances through the crack between the door and its frame. Patton hurried after them, looking worriedly at Deceit. 

The Deception side knew immediately what Patton was asking. He had wanted to save his strength for seeing if he could change into his snake form, but Patton would need his help now. Deceit waved a hand, and Patton smiled sleepily, his hair messing itself up, as though he had very recently awoken. The Moral side nodded and opened the door, moving to discreetly block any path the other person had into the room.

“Sup, Patton. Did I wake you?” Virgil asked. Patton shook his head, trying to lie as little as possible in order to spare Deceit the struggle of using his powers of deception to get through this interaction.  
“What do ya need, kiddo?” the Moral side asked.  
“Oh, I just wanted to know if you took the car out last night.”  
Patton hesitated. Should he say yes? Should he say no? He didn’t want to make Deceit have to come up with an excuse, but he couldn’t think of anything-

“I just wanted to go for a drive and think for a while. Clear my head.” Patton said, hearing Deceit’s voice saying the same words in his head as he did so. Virgil frowned, but he looked more worried than suspicious.  
“You okay?” the Anxious side questioned, sounding concerned.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry, kiddo.” Patton replied, sweeping his hair out of his eyes and smiling softly at Virgil.  
Virgil nodded. “Okay. You can talk to me if you need to, alright?”  
“Got it.” Patton nodded. “Thanks, Virgil.”

Virgil nodded as well, and turned to walk away. Patton shut the door a little slowly behind him, waiting until he could hear the Anxious side’s bedroom door open and then shut. He then locked the door and sighed.  
“Thanks, Dee!” the Moral side enthused. Deceit smiled thinly at him, swaying where he stood. Patton realized what was about to happen just before it did, and it seemed Logan did too, as both of them lunged forward just as Deceit started to fall, catching him.

Working together, the light sides managed to haul Deceit back over to the bed, with little help from the half-conscious side.  
“S-sorry..” Deceit mumbled. “Didn’t.. think that would.. drain me so much.”  
“Shh, it’s okay, Dee. It’s not your fault.” Patton shushed. He and Logan sat Deceit down on the bed, where the Deception side clutched the edge of it with one hand and Patton’s shoulder with the other as the Moral side sat down next to him. 

Patton raised a hand to feel Deceit’s forehead and recoiled in shock when he found that Deceit was even hotter than he had been before, burning up. Logan, seeing Patton’s face, copied his action and was equally surprised. Deceit was definitely much hotter than his normal temperature, much hotter than even the warmth of the room had made him. Logan turned and dug through the first aid kit had he left on the nightstand next to him, grabbing the thermometer he had used earlier and checking Deceit’s temperature. 

Oh yeah. Deceit was much, much warmer than he should have been. His fever was raging, as was evident by his flushed face and dull eyes, and by the way he was leaning heavily on Patton, who seemed perfectly fine with taking his weight. It wasn’t quite dangerous yet, but it could become so if not treated. Logan snatched the ice pack up from where Deceit had left it earlier, pressing it against the liar’s forehead as Patton lay him down. Deceit sniffled, focusing on the coolness of the ice pack. 

Meanwhile, Virgil waited a few minutes after hearing Patton’s door close, not quite sure what to do. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He could sense it, very clearly. Pacing the length of his bedroom, Virgil considered every possible bit of evidence that something was up.

First, there was Patton taking the car out in the middle of the night. Sure, it was possible that Patton might’ve just needed to go for a drive and clear his head; he was emotions as well as Morality, and Thomas did struggle with slight depression from time to time. But Patton had never left the house in the middle of the night before. Virgil had caught him just sitting on the porch from time to time, but he doubted that without good reason, Patton would drive around in the middle of the night, and certainly not for a whole hour. 

Secondly, there was Logan. Cooking a breakfast big enough for three people. At five A.M. And acting rather strangely on top of that, as though he was hiding something. There was nothing logical about cooking a huge breakfast in the early morning as far as Virgil could see. If Logan was planning to eat it all himself, then he’d undoubtedly have some leftovers; he knew that it’s not healthy to keep eating once you’re full, and he would’ve undoubtedly gotten full pretty quick. So he must’ve been making it for someone else as well as himself. Probably Patton, seeing as it was the Moral side’s room Logan had brought the food to. 

And Logan had been very secretive about why he was making such a large breakfast and who it was for, which was the strangest thing of all to the Anxious side. Logan wasn’t a huge fan of keeping secrets unless he saw very good reason to. Of course, if the others asked him, and provided some good points as to why they wanted something kept secret, and if it wasn’t harming anyone, then of course Logan wouldn’t tell. So there must’ve been some very good reasoning as to why he was being so sneaky about a simple (if large) breakfast. 

And then there was when Virgil had questioned Patton about the missing car just a few minutes ago. That encounter was the most proof he had that something was off. For one, Patton had looked like he’d just gotten out of bed, which made no sense if he’d been up for hours already. Secondly, he had spotted Logan through the crack between the door and its frame. Why would he feel the need to hide?

And lastly. 

Virgil, from nearly the beginning of when Thomas had started making the Sanders Sides videos, had been teaching himself to sense when the others were using their powers. First, it was out of a mild paranoia; he hadn’t really been accepted by the others for a bit and was always a least a little worried that someone, cough Roman cough cough, might get fed up with his presence and do something drastic, to put it mildly. 

After the Accepting Anxiety videos, however, which were technically scripted but turned into something much more real, he was truly accepted by the other light sides, and the only reasons he ever kept training his ability were curiosity and boredom. 

When Deceit showed up for the first time in one of Thomas’s videos, Virgil had jumped at the chance to learn his power signature. He memorized it thoroughly then. He’d always recognize it.

And he recognized that power when speaking to Patton earlier. Deceit was there, no doubt about it. Virgil didn’t think that Deceit had disguised himself as Patton, or even Logan - he could sense the small, constant signs of their powers of Morality and Logic respectively laying under the surface, waiting to be used - so he must’ve done something to them in order to convince them that it was fine if he was here. For lack of better wording, he must’ve brainwashed them somehow.

But why? Was he here to try to kill them again? Get revenge for his past failure?  
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Virgil muttered to himself. Clearly, Deceit had to be stopped, whatever he was doing. But how could Virgil stop him? Of course it wasn’t like he was super powerful, but he was stronger than Virgil. How could Virgil possibly-?

The Anxious side suddenly stopped pacing, staring at his door like it had started dancing a jig. Then, he lunged for it, yanking it open and racing down the hall to Roman’s room. Virgil raised a fist and pounded on the door, seizing the doorknob and jiggling it back and forth, not trying to unlock it but hoping that the noise would alert the sleeping Creative side that something was wrong. 

“What?!” called a muffled, groggy voice from the other side of the door. Virgil didn’t respond and instead pounded on the door harder. A few moments later, Roman yanked the door open, glaring angrily down at Virgil, rubbing the gunk from the corner of one eye.  
“What is so important that you have to wake me up at five thirty in the morning for? I was getting my beauty sleep!” he demanded. Virgil still didn’t respond yet, and shoved past Princey into the room.

“Shut the door and lock it. Make sure no one can hear us.” Virgil ordered, and Roman, though looking madder than a nest of hornets, did so.  
“Deceit’s in the house and I think he’s brainwashed Patton and Logan!” Virgil explained before Roman could say anything. “I need your help to stop him.”  
The Creative side’s eyes went wide. 

“Wait- WHAT? You’re- you’re joking, right? That stupid snake can’t be here!” Roman exclaimed.  
“He IS here. And he’s up to something horrible. He’s brainwashed Patton and Logan somehow; they’re hiding him in Patton’s room!” Virgil replied, waving his arms as he spoke, clearly upset.  
“That’s not possible! He’d never dare show his creepy snake face around here again!” Roman shot back, glaring at Virgil like he had just dropped a jar of Crofters and made Logan cry. 

“You don’t believe me? Fine. Then I’ll show you proof that he’s here. Bring your sword, we’re going to need it.” Virgil grabbed Roman’s wrist and dragged him toward the door, giving the Creative side only a split second to snatch his katana from where it leaned in its sheath against the wall. Still holding Roman’s wrist in an iron grip and ignoring the other Side’s struggles to free his hand, Virgil hauled him down the hallway to Patton’s door.

Once there, Virgil finally released Roman’s wrist and placed a finger over his lips to signal that Roman should remain silent, which would probably be difficult, but by the way he snapped his mouth shut after having opened it to let out a tirade of angry questions, he was at least going to try. Virgil raised a fist and rapped his knuckles against the door, bouncing in nervous anticipation until the door swung open a fraction and Patton looked out at them, smiling carefully. 

“Hi, kiddo! Did you need something?” Patton asked, not seeing Roman as he was standing a few paces away and was blocked by the wall.  
“Yeah. Can I come in?” Virgil said hurriedly, grabbing Roman’s wrist and pushing into Patton’s room before the Moral side could protest. 

“Virgil- wait!” Patton exclaimed in a futile effort to stop the Anxious side as Virgil shoved past him, only stopping when both he and Roman stood fully inside the room and with a clear view of the truth that lay before them. Deceit lay in Patton’s bed, leaning toward Logan, who had been pressing an ice pack to the snake-faced side’s forehead before he looked up and saw Virgil and Roman at the other end of the room and proceeded to drop it; Virgil’s expression both grim and mildly triumphant, while Roman’s was a mixture of shock and rage. 

“Guys, wait-!” Patton’s cry was drowned out as Roman grabbed the hilt of his sword and tossed the sheath to the floor.  
“YOU WILL PAY FOR RETURNING HERE, LIAR!” Roman screamed, and before anyone could stop him, he lunged for Deceit, sword raised high and ready to be brought down on his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger what cliffhanger there's no cliffhanger i don't know what you're talking about. >:3  
> ohhhh my goshhhhh there are so many plot holes in this entire story just ignore them. please. i'm begging you. just take my trashy writing and let it make you happy.  
> so, i hope you enjoyed! i'll start working on the third chapter now, so be prepared to wait another.. oh let's say.. way too long?  
> you will get those cookies eventually, i promise you will. just be patient with your friendly neighborhood procrastinating writer.


	3. Hiatus

Hey guys, gals, and non-binary pals. My sincerest apologies that this isn't a update. I feel horrible about this, but it must be done. I am putting Second Cookies, Second Chances on official, indefinite hiatus.   
There's a couple reasons, and you all deserve to know them, so I'll give you as much information as I can.

The first reason is that I've simply lost motivation and ideas. I've only managed to get a few paragraphs written for chapter three, and honestly, they suck. And I don't have a clue about what to fill the rest of the chapter with. So I'm stuck. 

The second is personal. I've just been having a tough time with a friend recently, and I've been... really depressed. I hide it well, but it's difficult. I’m finding it hard to focus. Unless I’m interacting with someone, it’s pretty much all I can think about. I... I feel like I can’t escape from it. 

It’s okay, I’ll get over it soon. Until then, I can just keep acting. Oh, I didn’t come on here to vent! I’ll shut up about this now. Please don’t worry about me. 

Anyway, here’s the worse news. I might not ever actually FINISH this story. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have even posted this until I finished it. Hindsight 20/20, am I right? I have a bad habit of coming up with great ideas, writing them… aaaaand then never getting anywhere NEAR the end. I can’t even count how many fics I’ve abandoned because of that. I can think of maybe three fics I’ve actually finished, and they were all no more than five paragraphs long.   
(If you’re hoping to read them, don’t. One has been lost to time *coughcoughtotallynotbecauseidroppedmykindleinabucketofwatercoughcough*, and the other two are… well, let’s just say they’d make at least most people uncomfy if I posted them on here. I might eventually post them on another account, but then you’ll have to find them on your own and read at your own risk)

My deepest and sincerest apologies to anyone who has fallen in love with this fic so far, but there’s a very good chance it will never be finished, or even updated. I know just how much falling in love with a fic that will never be completed can hurt. I’ve learned my lesson from this as well; never post a work in progress! I thought having a bunch of readers would help me with my motivation problem but evidently not. 

I also apologize to anyone who thought this was an update! Sorry, guys. There is a low chance that I will update this again, but there is still a chance. 

I hope I won’t ever have to disappoint anyone with an unfinished fic again. I’ve learned my lesson from this and I will do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I hope you all aren’t too disappointed in me. Please keep an eye out for any future fics from me. 

Until next time, fellow fanders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Here, Patton baked you a batch of internet cookies (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)  
> If you find any pesky typos, please inform me so that I can fix them! Thanks!


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